🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for atrocities stemming from her severe measures on protests led by students which caused her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom died during the turmoil in the previous year.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had called for strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, the former leader stated the death penalty was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed news organizations.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of others, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews in previous months indicated she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those killed during the protests informed news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, her political faction, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the vote.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; which is why I am sad," he continued.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the her political party has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told press agencies. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not resolution for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We assist numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he said.